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Saturday, 4 June 2011

Good Guys in Hornton Street

Nothing thrills the Dame more than reporting selflessness by councillors;it makes a great change after reading of Cockells' constant sponging off taxpayers to support his First Class tastes in air travel. 5 star hotels and uber expensive restaurants.
So who is the Dame's Man of the Moment? None other than Cllr Tim Ahern. Tim is a man of integrity who takes criticism of the council to heart, but the Dame is delighted to pay tribute to his generosity during his Mayoralty Year. The Dame has heard that during his year he actually paid around £40,000 to support his Mayoralty. He even forwent his Mayor's allowance in order to spare taxpayers the hit.This is exactly the sort of public spirited attitude that defines the best in local leadership and the Dame is delighted to have been able to expose one man's goodness. Well Done Tim. A good leader needs to display honesty and integrity- in this action you have ticked one important box.

I agree and TA seems decent enough, however there is another side of this coin and others might say he 'bought' his year in office.

However would someone with a low income become Mayor? I understand only certain Cllrs can afford the year out of work etc, and some expenses are not chargeable, eg, if a Mayor needed a babysitter so they could attend an official function, they could not charge for this.

This is a great reason for supporting the call for a Referendum on a Directly Elected Mayor, if you ask me.

It would not occur to Cllr Ahern to use his council credit card to entertain friends to dinner on Saturday night. He has a better sense of values. Probably had sensible parents, a good home, and went to a good school.

Nor would it occur to Cllr Ahern if he met a fellow councillor at a loose end in New York to use his council credit card to buy both of them a slap up meal in a high society restaurant like Keens.

Lower order people cannot be relied upon to behave properly. Unfortunately. So K&C needs strict rules that are enforced to gaurd against the kind of expense abuse that Cllr Cockell is prone to do.

And it is a scandal that the Chief Executive Derek Myers (£280k per year) fails to do his duty by ensuring that tax payers money is not squandered

3.07, it is a very good idea to consider a Directly Elected Mayor for Kensington and Chelsea.

Our demographics (a low turnout at local elections with a guaranteed 70% Conservative vote) has shown that the Cabinet system of Government has lead to a breakdown of democracy and institutional corruption.

In the absence of checks and balances in Hornton Street, we do not have people of sufficient calibre coming forward who can avoid power going to their heads.

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